'Did Cheong Wa Dae's personnel team even vet her?'

'President Lee must ask the public for forgiveness'

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo. [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo. [Yonhap]

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo on Thursday demanded that President Lee Jae Myung clarify whether he knew nominee Yong Hye-in intended to hold her parliamentary seat while serving as minister before he named her to the post.

Writing on his Facebook page Thursday, Ahn questioned whether Cheong Wa Dae's personnel team had done any vetting at all. "Did Chief of Staff Kang Hun-seok, Senior Secretary Jo Seong-ju and Secretary Kim Yong-chae not even bother to check whether the nominee planned to hold both positions from the start?" he said.

Ahn said public anger over the nominee was running high, adding that it stemmed from her "demanding privilege as if it were her due — winning a second proportional-representation term under the Democratic Party's protection while also seeking to hold a ministerial post at the same time."

He also criticized Cheong Wa Dae's vetting process. "When reports emerged that Cheong Wa Dae had signaled reservations about the dual role, the presidential office immediately called them false," Ahn said. "That is hard to understand. Is Cheong Wa Dae saying it does not matter if the nominee holds both the ministerial post and the parliamentary seat?"

He then pressed further on President Lee's intentions. "Did he put her before the public after confirming she would give up nothing, or did he nominate her without even checking her intentions?" Ahn said.

Ahn said the president must come clean about what he knew and when. "To establish clear accountability for this mess, President Lee must disclose whether he was aware of the nominee's position in advance," he said. "If he knew and nominated her anyway, he is complicit in the same sense of entitlement. If he did not know, it is incompetence — a failure to read the public mood."

Ahn warned that public anger was spreading. "The flames of public sentiment have already reached the nominee herself, her family and the Basic Income Party," he said, adding that it was only a matter of time before they reached Cheong Wa Dae and President Lee.

He urged the president to act before that happened. "President Lee should come forward and tell the public — 'I did not know' or 'I knew but took it too lightly' — ask for forgiveness and withdraw the nomination," Ahn said. "Do not test the public's patience."


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